


Without Shame in the Presence of the Saints

by Kittencatten, rpblcofletters



Category: The New Pope, The Young Pope (TV)
Genre: Dinner, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, homoerotic dumplings, this happened and we needed to share
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25674082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittencatten/pseuds/Kittencatten, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rpblcofletters/pseuds/rpblcofletters
Summary: Pius XIII and his eminent cardinals are making a visit to New York (state visit but also with personal reasons, visiting two old friends).  Pius keeps sending Gutierrez on errands with the friend’s valet in an attempt to set them up.  Assente is massively jealous.  Hence, these two small scenes.
Relationships: Mario Assente/Bernardo Gutiérrez
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long day about town, Assente confronts Gutierrez at the embassy in New York.

“Goodnight, Holy Father,” said Gutierrez. And he wasn’t the kind to do a kiss on the cheek anyway - but it somehow felt appropriate, even after their deep conversation, for him to genuflect and kiss his ring. So he knelt, and took his hands and did so. Assente had just happened to get up to use the bathroom before he officially went to bed. But when he cracked open the door and saw him and Pius and decided to instead wait for a bit.

The formality of the gesture was ameliorated somewhat by the intimacy of the moment they'd shared downstairs. The formality was further dissolved when, after Gutierrez had risen, Pius echoed him saying, "Goodnight, Bernardo." He smiled slightly before opening the door and slipping into his room. Neither of them noticed Assente watching through his cracked door, simultaneously wanting and not wanting to interrupt.

But Assente had been waiting for this moment - he hadn’t seen Bernardo all day and was quite curious to talk to him. So he dramatically opened the door, revealing himself in his satin pajamas. “Cardinal Gutierrez,” he said in a way that he thought might be sexy. It wasn’t, though. It was sort of just awkward.

Bernardo turned around sharply, not realizing that someone had been watching. “Cardinal Assente,” he replied, voice even and deliberately neutral. He was decidedly unsure of Assente’s intentions in that moment, whether he was trying to recreate that moment in Brannox’s house or if this was somehow completely innocent.

It was, in some sense, an intention to recreate that effect. But it didn’t seem to him like Bernardo was particularly interested in coming in for a little fun, wink wink. So instead he said. “I hope the Holy Father hadn’t been sending you on too many errands with that butler fellow?” He held his hands behind his back in a way that surely would have looked elegant in a cassock, but with his awkwardly long body instead made him look a bit like a giraffe.

If he’d been particularly prone to sassiness, Gutierrez might’ve raised his eyebrows and affected an expression that said _oh so this is what this is about_. In all honesty, perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised at what appeared to be jealousy on Assente’s part. Though Gutierrez had done nothing to overtly encourage him since that fateful encounter at Brannox’s, Assente’s fascination with him hadn’t ceased. “Nothing too strenuous as of yet,” he said, tone unchanged.

Assente pressed his already-thin lips. He couldn’t tell what that was meant to mean - but he could tell that Gutierrez wasn’t about to give anything away about it. Because he had seen through it as well when Pius sent the two of them off to get cherry soda, and not only because he distrusted the butler to get the proper kind. “And what about your... _toyboy_?” He asked - almost an exact repeat of what he had asked now some two years ago. “Frankie? Freddie?” Fredward? “He lives here, yes? Have you seen him?”

It was Gutierrez’s then to purse his lips, though it did not have as dramatic of an effect when he did it. “Freddie,” he said, putting slight emphasis on the name, “Was doing well last I heard. It has been some time, after all.” It had been a deliberate choice on his part not to contact Freddie, not to try and arrange a meeting, difficult as that would be when surrounded by over-observant cardinals.

Assente sniffed gently and then moved his hands as if to adjust his cuffs - because his pajama shirt did have cuffs: he wanted to feel fancy even when sleeping. “Well then,” he said. And he sort of just stood there, looking at him. It wasn’t even uncertainty of what to do: he was actively doing nothing. But he supposed he ought to go to the planned as he had meant to in the first place.

They stood facing each other for a moment, each waiting for the other to move first. There was a slight tension between them and they both knew it, though Gutierrez refused to entertain the idea of acting on it. Assente was the first to move, deliberate as always with how he brushed past him. Gutierrez turned his head, following Assente down the corridor. It was impossible to tell, however, whether he noticed or, if he did, whether he cared.

He slipped into the bathroom and locked the door behind him - and that was that. Maybe if he played hard to get, people would be more interested. But it seemed that was the end of escapades for the night. And it was a pleasant night. Everyone slept well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Visiting with Pius’ friend in his apartment uptown, they have ordered Chinese food, but it becomes clear that Assente has never eaten such a thing.

As the others around the table had begun to fill their own plates with dumplings and various other delicacies, Gutierrez took his own helping, delicately picking each one from the container and placing it in his plate. He glanced to Assente, next to him, who was looking at the takeout boxes in their peculiar and incredibly characteristic shape with his disenchanted eyes that betrayed perhaps disgust, and remained unmoving. He tried to meet his gaze, but Assente would not budge. So, having paused taking from the plate, chopsticks still in hand, he said, “Would you like _help_?”

Assente wasn't startled by Gutierrez's voice or if he was, he didn't show it. His head turned sharply, finally meeting the other man's gaze. He looked from Gutierrez to the dumplings and back again as if debating whether it was better to admit that, yes, he was a bit of a loss for what to do, or maintain that he knew what he was doing. Ultimately, he yielded to Gutierrez's kindness. "Yes," he said, quiet and monosyllabic, not wanting the others to hear.

Gutierrez offered a gentle little chuckle. How difficult could it be to take some food off a plate - even exotic, unfamiliar food ? But he simply nodded and with the backs of his chopsticks began to place some of the chicken dumplings in Assente’s plate. “You don’t ... have to use the chopsticks,” he said when those eyes filled with disgust watched him move lithely back and forth between the container and the plate. “Though I’m sure you’d be great at using them.”

Though Assente might normally have refused the chopsticks, he felt emboldened by Gutierrez's words. It also seemed to him like somewhat of a challenge, even if it was certainly not meant as such. Besides, Assente found himself wanting to see Gutierrez's reaction to his use of chopsticks.

He smiled gently as Assente tentatively picked them up. He was prepared to model, like a mother, but first he watched as his friend tried them on his own. It ended up looking somewhat like a baby horse attempting to stand for the first time: cute but also in need of assistance.

When Gutierrez reached over to physically adjust his grip, Assente had to make an effort not to let his breath catch audibly. As it was, he was momentarily unable to focus on the quiet advice Gutierrez was giving him, all to intent on the feeling of Gutierrez's hand against his own. The other man finally pulled away and Assente felt a shiver go through him at the sudden lack of warmth that had come from his proximity. Gutierrez held up his own chopsticks with a smile before turning back to his dumplings. Assente was left watching him, hand hovering in the air, chopsticks held loosely in the position to which Gutierrez had adjusted them a moment ago.

Gutierrez took a bite (he was quite hungry) before turning again to his companion, who remained positively still. “They won’t work if you don’t move them,” he said with a gentle laugh, as if to encourage him, but Assente looked somewhat off-put by this. But Gutierrez was massively curious what Assente would think of the dumplings.

There was a part of him that wanted to be deliberately difficult. Perhaps he'd just put down the chopsticks, take up a fork, and go about eating in the manner to which he was accustomed. Gutierrez was watching him with such earnest curiosity, however, that Assente found himself awkwardly picking up a dumpling and taking a small bite. His eyes widened in surprise at how delicious it was. Gutierrez looked immensely pleased with his reaction.

Indeed, Gutierrez was massively pleased that he liked it. “Good?” He said.

To both his and Gutierrez's great surprise, Assente smiled. It was a small thing, close-mouthed and something that Gutierrez would've missed if he hadn't been waiting for it. He nodded, wordlessly. Gutierrez smiled and Assente once again found himself watching him, or perhaps it might more accurately be termed staring. But they went on eating, and that was all.


End file.
